POVs: The Triangle Pt 1: Demona
by Cosmina Inspira
Summary: The first of a three part mini-series which looks into the thoughts of Demona, Elisa, and Goliath and the unexpected main love triangle in the series.
1. Chapter 1

THE TRIANGLE CHAPTER 1: DEMONA

By Cosmic Inspiration

Disclaimer: The Gargoyles animated series is the property of the Walt Disney Company and Buena Vista Television Animation and originally created by Greg Weisman. No copyright infringement is intended and not authorized by the copyholders; this author makes no profit from these stories and only writes for fun of creativity and entertainment. All original characters are the property of the author Inspiration.

Author's Note: Any events mentioned in my stories at credited to the original writers and artists, such as the Battle of Rathveramoen is from SLG Comics and is credited there, and stories from 'From the Heart' and 'Captive Pursuit' are from TGS and are credited to the TGS staff. The goal of many of my stories is to be faithful to the original series, its 'master plan' and TGS, but it is all my own interpretation. As the disclaimer always says, this author does not own anything about Gargoyles, except my own original characters. I hope you all enjoy.

****Castle Wyvern, 994 CE

"Remember," her love gently rumbled to her as he held her shoulders, "You and I are one. Now and forever."

She knew it to be true deep in her heart for she saw it radiate strongly from his deep soulful eyes, his own heart true that belonged to her and her alone. Yet she still worried for him in his choice to confront their enemies alone instead of with the entire clan, with the exception of the youngest hatchlings and the oldest elders.

Momentary sadness burdened her heart as she watched her love and leader walk away to prepare for his mission, which became quickly replaced by irritated disappointment and anger when he became far from ear shot. It ruined how the plan was supposed to play out, which seemed so perfect and elegant in its simplicity, but her love was too stubborn to see that even if he was unaware of it.

She confronted her would-be ally, the human captain of the castle guard, with this unexpected flaw. The plan only needed to be altered slightly, but what he proposed was pure madness. The Vikings will attack the castle during the day while her clan was in stone sleep, a time that made gargoyles truly vulnerable. She knew this was folly, even with him reassuring her that he swore with his honor he would protect them. She agreed, but she knew she still had to try to convince Goliath to take the rest of the clan with him.

This last scuffle with the humans, although brief, should be enough evidence that no true lasting peace is possible between the clan and them. It was simply unfair to send the inseparable trio of their younger brothers to the rookery when it was all too clear that the humans were the ones at fault.

Again she tried to convince him to take the rest of the clan with him, but he still stubbornly refused even when their horned grey blue brother offered his own assistance. It felt refreshing that he agreed with her to a point about the humans, especially when the castle sorcerer, the Magus, suddenly insulted them yet again. He agreed that the Vikings should take the castle, but she was momentarily aghast at him for suggesting completely abandoning the castle when it was the clan's home for a long time. It was quickly countered by their bearded tan elder as he came up the stairs about a gargoyle's nature to protect.

"A gargoyle can no more stop protecting the castle than breathing the air."

Yes, she remembered that in a way that was what the plan was really about. The clan will soon understand, even her love will understand when it comes to pass.

He told them to stay and keep guard before gently touching her chin between his talons and saying to her, "And you, My Love, I never lose sight of."

The look in his eyes was enough to make her heart ache, and yearn for him as he took to the sky with only the elder by his side as they went in pursuit of their enemies.

As she watched them go, she wondered if she should have tried harder to convince him to take the clan away. Or if perhaps there was another way to work out the plan, wait for another night to carry it out.

No, this will be the only chance they had. The castle had been built on her clan's ancestral home years before, which made it rightfully theirs. The humans were the latecomers and she will have no more of their spiteful contempt and disrespect towards her people. Preserving them and keeping them safe was all that mattered.

Dawn was soon, the clan preparing for the day's rest. She looked down to her grey blue brother and his split winged light brown mate as they went to their turrets. Apprehension had been growing within her since her mate and the elder had left shortly before, a small panic that the plan would not work and she would have to lead the clan away herself.

As she was about to start warning them, the silhouettes and figures of the Vikings caught her eye. It was too late, the plan was beginning. Walking through the castle she saw the rest of the clan prepare for the day, but she would not be joining them this time. She was hesitant but she knew she had to flee.

Gliding down to the shore below the Wyvern Cliffs, she ignored the thoughts in the back of her mind of what her punishment would be when she admitted her plan for the humans to her love, for worse than being in the rookery was banishment. Such a thought for any gargoyle was nearly soul shattering.

Perhaps, just perhaps when the plan worked she will try to make her love understand why she had to do it. And perhaps because she is his mate and the second in command he will show leniency.

He will, he just has to.

As the Sun rose and stone sleep steadily took her, a small feeling of guilt grew within her, a single tear rolled down her lovely cheek.

The plan has to work, it just has to.


	2. Chapter 2

Growing concern and then overwhelming grief overtook her momentary jubilation as her tearful eyes sighted the horrible devastation before her. It was a scene that she had tried to prevent from coming to pass for many years, a nightmarish image that has haunted her dreams for a long while. Small fires burned and human weapons lay scattered and broken among stone debris that she knew was not from the castle's stone walls.

She cried her grief into the empty night.

Surrounded by nothing but the small hungry fires, the broken discarded weapons, and worst of all the desecrated remains of her kin, she wept from a wave of uncontrollable and overwhelming grief that surged through to her very soul.

It was never supposed to be this way. The captain had broken his word and allowed those barbaric Vikings to shatter her clan. She knew now that she should never have trusted him. She had been a fool to even consider thinking of him as a friend and ally and it had cost her everything.

A large shadow past over her as she shed her tears. Looking up she glimpsed through her tear filled eyes to see her love returning.

"Goliath," she breathed heavily.

Her heart momentarily fluttered, overjoyed that her love was alive and well. She would have run to him, to embrace him and rub brow ridges with him had sudden fear and guilt not replaced her joy as she saw him morn the remains of a clan member and then roar in righteous anger and grief to the empty night.

No, she could not yet face the clan leader about her part in this disaster, her terrible mistake in trusting the captain. She needed a little time to clear her head and bring her grief under control. She would return later, tell him that she was seeking him from worry. She was also just glad knowing that he was still alive and that he would be glad she was alive as well when she returned.

As Goliath's thunderous roar echoed like a dying memory through the night and in her heart, she fled into the forest.

Alone in the forest she wandered and wept for a long while until her tears ran dry, the trees of the forest a blanket of darkness nearly obscuring the sky of shining ethereal stars, the faint sounds of woodland creatures hidden within the darkness were at one with it which portrayed the forest's true wildness. Her ears had become deaf to the sounds of the forest, the darkness an embodiment of the numb emptiness that has replaced her grief. A small rabbit had been her only kill within the last hour for sustenance, the presence of meat a small comforting relief. For a long while she perched in a tree staring blankly into nothing, another meager shadow among the darkness, quiet and unmoving, that simply watched the moon shift lower in the sky like the struggles within her own soul.

Eagerness and apprehension grew within her as she approached the now silent stone castle. It was a strange and ominous sight, for she could not remember a night when the skies surrounding the castle and its land were devoid of the glorious sight of gargoyles gliding on the winds.

There were only heavy wisps of smoke, and silence engulfed the castle. The silence was all consuming and disturbing as another strange scene caught her eyes. Upon the highest tower were six still statues which were oddly familiar, she inspected them closely with confusion, their state unnatural and clearly the work of sorcery. Upon closer observation she quickly realized it was survivors of her clan, the young trio and the beast that had been sent to the rookery the previous night, the elder that had accompanied Goliath, and high above them now still and silent in a sad and contemplative pose was,

"Oh, my Love," she sobbed, deep sorrow and guilt once again grew quickly within her. Tears flowed anew at this horrifying realization.

"What have I…"

Anger burned cold in her heart as a sudden wave from the cold merciless sea below. No, _this_ was not her doing, she was sure she knew with whom the blame truly lay with.

"What have _they_ done to you?" she cried in a broken voice in her despair. Yes, it was _they_ who had allowed her clan to be destroyed, it was _they_ who had placed her love and the others into an enchanted sleep.

The faint whinny of a horse caught her attention. Down below she saw several familiar humans removing the eggs from the rookery to place them into wagons filled with straw.

How dare they commit further acts of desecration upon the remains of her clan!

She was about to stop them when she froze from a cold rising within her stomach.

The precious eggs. How could she ever face them when they began to ask about the rest of their parents and elders?

She simply went numb with confused guilt as she watched the princess, the Magus and the peasants ride away with the last remnants of her clan. A small part of her actually hoped that they would treat them well, or take them to where they will be properly raised by a proud gargoyle clan.

She watched them leave until they disappeared into the dark horizon, knowing there was only one option left to her. She climbed up to her frozen love, his skin cold and hard as the stone walls instead of warm flesh and filled with life as he should be in the night. The expression he had on his face was the only sign that he was once truly alive, though it matched the dark graying despair within her. She cupped his cold cheek and kissed her fingers from her lips to his frozen lips, one last tear watering her dark eye. She then lovingly kissed his forehead one last time to say good-bye, the tear falling down her cheek.

Despairingly she flew away into the lonely empty night, resigning herself to her fate of exile, never noticing her tear fall from Goliath's closed eye and down his frozen stone cheek as though it were his own.

****997

A ceremony was held for those who fell in the resent battle at Rathveramoen, but her thoughts were not with the others in the ceremony but elsewhere. She stared off into the direction over the green highlands and mighty forests where Castle Wyvern now stood empty and alone. It was where she wanted to be, but these rogues and nomads needed her more. As their leader she knew this to be true.

Her clan had simply got caught in the middle of another petty battle between the humans over who was to be the rightful leader of their kind, and she allied her new clan against the supporters of 'King' Constantine III with extreme reluctance. Several gargoyles had fallen in the battle, including her new second's mate, who had taken the blow from a human's blade meant for him. She understood well how he felt now, and yet she now knew that there may be hope for the last members of the Wyvern Clan in their stone sleep.

During the battle she had heard rumors from her then human allies that not so long ago Constantine had been hunting for two females who were rumored to possess a powerful magic book that may have been the Grimorum Arcanorum. Constantine and his sorcerers had come close to gaining the book, but it was also rumored that the females had been aided by a rogue red gargoyle. Before the Grimorum could be taken, they had all disappeared within a fiery sphere of light.

Had she known of this sooner, she would have used the Grimorum in some way to bring her love and the clan out of their stone sleep and taken this other rogue gargoyle into her new clan.

Yet hope had been rekindled for her, for if a spell can be cast then it can be removed and countered. She knew this well from her own studies in magic.

From now on she would have to carefully divide her time between leading her ever growing ragtag clan away from traitorous human affairs and finding a way of reversing the sleep spell upon her love and his clan.


	3. Chapter 3

****1004

She kissed her love's frozen cheek and gently stroked her knuckles against his harden brow ridges as she soothingly said, "Hello, my Love, I'm sorry for being away for so long. It has not been easy for me to keep my clan safe, there's human treachery and deceit everywhere. It's as though such traits are bred into their very nature, as though they know nothing else. Any who would be otherwise are few and far between, but the humans are best avoided as they always should have been."

She scoffed then looked at her frozen mate with a scornful yet amused smile.

"You wonderfully stubborn fool," she huffed, "I don't know why you would've continued to tolerate the humans' continued treatment of our clan 10 years ago, but I don't blame you for only thinking of protecting the castle. My clan has no castle to protect now but we do protect each other, and we must do so now more than ever. I heard rumors of a masked human that hunts our kind for sport, and it sickens me to think that he finds such pleasure in the destruction of an innocent and proud race as ours. I swear I will not ever allow him to find you or our clan."

She leaned against him lovingly to place her soft cheek against his cold hard cheek as she said with quiet determination, "Don't worry, I haven't forgotten my vow of finding a cure for you and the others, but it hasn't been easy. The Grimorum is still missing and magical tomes are becoming scarcer still. It's fortunate that I am now more familiar with this spell placed upon you. I'll continue to search for a way to raise the castle above the clouds, and then, My Love, we can be together again."

She stroked his brow ridges one last time and kissed his cheek before flaring her violet wings and gliding away to the clan that needed her now.

"Soon, My Love," she breathed with hopeful contentment, "Soon."

****1020

Because of those two young humans she had missed her chance to rid herself and her clan of that murderous Hunter once and for all. They meant nothing to her at all, yet she could not resist her instinct to help them. So why did she do it? Perhaps because somehow those young humans reminded her a bit of her and Goliath when they were that young and just starting to fall in love. It was one of the few things she could see in common between her kind and humans, but that was where the similarities ended.

She would have flown to Castle Wyvern this night to briefly visit her love and his frozen clan had dawn not been just a few hours away and her own clan needed her this night to hunt for food.

****1032

Macbeth's debt to her has been repaid, a burden she is now relieved to have lifted. She heard that not long afterwards he had wed his human love and they were happy together.

For a short while she once again visited her former clan and her sleeping love.

****1040

It was strange how this now aged king reminded her of her dormant love with his strong sense of honor and duty to protect those he lead. Macbeth had willingly traded his youth to her in exchange for her clan's alliance to take down his tyrannical cousin, the late King Duncan. He had not only become a common enemy for both of them, but he had taken the mask of the Hunter, and with his death she not only gained the satisfaction of one less human enemy to contend with but also the seeming end of the Hunter legacy.

Macbeth had promised a new golden age between their kinds, and had even bestowed a name to her; Demona.

Now, like her dormant beloved, she was a gargoyle leader with a name, one that will indeed command both fear and respect from the humans. Unlike Goliath, though she always believed she lead her ragtag clan by his example, she will use her name and what it inspired to her advantage.

Also, unlike last time, she will be much more wary of her human ally.

****1057

She had again been a fool.

She and Macbeth had lead their peoples well together for a few years to the point that she had nearly forgotten one critical fact; he was still a human.

He reminded her so much of her petrified love that she blindly took him at his word about their alliance, and then he would have the outrageous gall to even consider betraying her and her clan to get peace from the invading English.

Not willing to allow it to happen again she withdrew her clan from Castle Moray and instead allied with the English, but this too had been folly. They in turn had destroyed her clan, the last gargoyles in all of Scotland. She then had also discovered how much deeper her link to Macbeth had gone, but it was more of a deeper insult to injury than a consolation.

Screeching her grief stricken outrage to the once again empty night, she now knew what she had to do.

There was only one option left to her now, vengeance. It will be the only way to protect her love and his clan.

The frozen Wyvern Clan survivors, primarily her beloved Goliath, were all that were left of their kind in the world to her now. She now knew that they would never be safe in this world from the humans unless they were destroyed, for all they knew was betrayal, death, and destruction.

It was the gargoyle way to take vengeance upon those that dishonored your clan, and she will see it carried out, even if it took until her dying breath.

****1545

Cold anger grasped her chest like ice, hatred coursed through her veins as venom.

What her ancient enemy had nearly done to the remains of her sleeping clan galvanized her hatred of the human race and once more renewed her insatiable hunger for revenge that she shrieked to the night.

The Angel of the Night had truly fallen.

****1793

Once again the humans had destroyed her chance for happiness and companionship, the last one she was sure she will ever have. There was no satisfying their unquenchable blood lust as she witnessed their petty and pathetic conflicts, martyring themselves for senseless causes and setting innocent and noble gargoyles in the middle.

They are nothing more than a plague in this world that destroys everything in its path because it is not like them.

A noble and proud gargoyle had died in her arms, someone so much like her wonderful Goliath. She had tried not to fall in love with Valjean out of respect for Goliath, but they had shared a deep connection she had not felt in so many years.

For them, in the name of both their memories, she will avenge her race's suffering and find a way to kill this plague.


	4. Chapter 4

****Manhattan, 1994

She had waited for this very moment for a thousand years, a perfect moment in time that now overshadowed a millennium of pain and loneliness which became instantly forgotten as she embraced her revived love as a warm blanket.

How she had longed for this moment, longed for him for so long that it burned and ached her to her very core of existence.

She drank him in with every fiber of her being, relishing him for everything that he now was and had been a thousand years before. He was now warm flesh and blood instead of cold hard stone, from which she could feel the beat of his heart and rhythm of his pulse; the strong feel of his sinewy hide that rippled with powerful muscle and physical perfection as he embraced her in his brawny arms and large dark velvety wings; the softness of his hair she stroked between her talons with a love once thought gone; the intoxicating aroma of his male musk that spoke of memories of their ancient homeland; and finally the feel of his hot breath and sound of his deep rumbling voice as he chocked to say,

"My Angel, it really is you."

"Oh, Goliath," she blissfully breathed, "All the days that I've dreamed of you and this moment."

Once more from countless lifetimes past he was filled with strength and life anew, as he should be. The very presence of him completing her lonely soul as hope for their kind reignited within her heart. Part of her hated to lie to him about how she survived the tragedy a thousand years ago, but soon he will understand what is necessary and has to be done.

"As you said," she breathed with completed filled content, "You and I are one, now and forever."

The night had begun with such promise, so perfectly beyond what she had hoped. She was sure that in the moment he once more embraced her, Goliath wanted more than anything to sweep her away for a more intimate reunion. However, it had to be postponed after a heartfelt reunion with the rest of the clan. Part of her was amused at the names they had taken for themselves, though they had to be the most ridiculous things she has heard in a long time. Revealing her own name will have to wait.

She was sure that Goliath yet still had something more physical in mind when she asked for a favor and he said he would do anything.

Yes, it all had been what she wanted to hear. What she knew they will accomplish together. They _will_ destroy the human race that hunted them and will do great feats that will create a new world for all remaining gargoyles, for with her now revived mate by her side they were stronger together than they ever could be apart.

It will be a glorious new beginning for her and the Wyvern Clan survivors, starting with fulfilling their bargain to Xanatos.

She understood how Goliath was skeptical about this mission, and how he worried for his clan.

Holding out her hand for him to clasp, she reminded him what they all truly were.

"To soar with you again," he quietly breathed with growing joy, "It's like a dream."

Smiling at him she simply said, "We've dreamed for a thousand years, Goliath. It's time for our dreams to come true."

Strong winds lifted the two seemingly timeless lovers high above the glimmering city, its cooling feel a gentle relieving sensation which she relished upon, a millennium of loneliness now insubstantial to this very moment and the hopeful future that it promised.

Yet somehow it was not to last.

They worked well together just as they had since the olden days of Castle Wyvern, Goliath still the strong formidable warrior she remembered him to be. However, she discovered something different about him, a pathetic weakness that she never would have seen from the true gargoyle warrior she knew him to be.

It aggravated her to no end that he would doubt her fighting abilities as well as show concern for a weaker enemy. Her eyes narrowed dangerously as she told him with a glacial tone, "The centuries have made you weak, Goliath."

She had gained a small satisfaction from throwing the unconscious human against the flying airship's metallic bulkhead, throwing him hard enough that he might die from a head wound or be comatose for years.

They had soon succeeded in their mission to retrieve the stolen disk for Xanatos, yet she was aggravatingly surprised to no end how close she came to again losing her awakened mate. This time is was not due to a sleep spell, but to Goliath's inexplicable insistence of helping the worthless humans from the destructive fire she had created aboard their flying fortress, because they were the enemy and the enemy always must be disabled or even destroyed. Determined not to lose him again, she grabbed him and pulled him out with her.

She did not understand why he did not realize how it was so obvious, but she will make him understand tonight.

Her world seemed to be becoming undone again so quickly. This night they are all reunited, especially her and Goliath, and suddenly he has the nerve to mention meeting with a _human_ friend.

Hot blistering anger grew within her as she pointed out bluntly to him that gargoyles had no human friends, nor should they, never have and never will.

"Humanity is our enemy, Goliath," she snapped at him with a granite edge in her voice, "I thought you'd learned that a millenium ago."

"I cannot make war upon and entire world," he simply stated.

He just naively insisted that there were good humans as well as bad humans, and that Xanatos is proof of it. If only he knew what she did about their 'benefactor.'

What those traitorous creatures have done to not only gargoyles but to their own kind throughout the centuries was completely unforgivable, and he dared to dismiss it as though it were unimportant.

How could he just forget that a true gargoyle sought justice for a slaughtered clan by taking an equal amount of blood from your enemy? It is how it always was, an eye for and an eye.

"Their descendants shall pay!" she yelled, "I will have blood for blood!"

"You said the centuries have changed me. They have changed you, too," he said with a quiet tone she could not place, but something inside of her seemed to go numb and then snap.

"You are not as I remember you."

He walked away from her, insisting on seeing his human _friend._

It suddenly became clear to her now; he will never be how she knew him to be or what she wanted him to be. He was something that only looked gargoyle but clearly will never be a true one.

Naïve.

Foolish.

Weak.

"So be it," she said in a quiet cold voice as he walked away.

She was not sure how he had suddenly become so corrupt and weak that he would abandon her for this _human,_ and a female from the sound of the name. No doubt it was _her_ doing to turn her own mate against her.

No, that was never it. Just like before, he had abandoned the clan to the mercy of the humans. She should have known before.

It had all been _his_ fault!

It become all too clear now, if she could not make Goliath see the truth about humans, then he will have to be eliminated. He was no longer worthy to be her mate or to be leader of these remaining gargoyles. Whatever she had seen in him a thousand years ago, was clearly no longer there.

To witness the clan in battle against their robotic steel betters had been a glorious sight to behold, but it was disappointing that they had failed in their programmed function. It was an option Xanatos presented her with that she had at first been a bit reluctant to do, but now knew that it had been necessary to show the clan the true destructive nature of humanity.

Now it had come down to this, between her and Goliath. Centuries of anger and rage flowed through her like a sustaining fire, an inferno that burned like the Sun and made the blasts from her bazooka seem like mere sparks. The tension of the moment allowed her to finally reveal the gloriously perfect plan from centuries ago, and everything was truly Goliath's fault for wanting to protect the humans instead of their clan.

Not trusting anyone had been the only way to stay alive.

He just stubbornly said that there is good and evil in everyone, human and gargoyle.

"Don't you see?" he said with a hard stubborn tone, "None of this would've happened if it weren't for _you_."

No! That was completely untrue, she did not kill the clan or put him in stone sleep! It was the _humans_ who murdered them; it was the _humans_ who had cursed the survivors, and it was the _humans_ who had destroyed and massacred throughout the centuries.

She had to give him one last chance, for old time's sake, for somewhere in him was the formidable gargoyle warrior she had known and once loved. A chance to build a new world for their kind.

"We have found each other again after a thousand years of solitude," she pleaded with him, "Does that mean nothing to you?"

Silence.

Then it was decided, she will find no ally in him, only an enemy.

An enemy that will now be terminated.

However, before he dies he needs to know who she really is.

"I am… Demona," she declared, her eyes burning red as hellfire.

Her chance to destroy him became disrupted at the sudden appearance of a dark haired human female in a red leather jacket. She threw herself at Demona, causing the deadly rocket launcher to fire off at the tower instead, causing it to tumble and fall. Debris hit her painfully at random as the castle walls fell apart as a rain of death, making it more difficult to catch an updraft for gliding.

As the world rapidly rose around her, she saw Goliath leap from the damaged stone ramparts. For an instant moment, she knew he would come and catch her like he had done for her once so many centuries before. Despite what she had just tried to do, he may still care for her after all.

His hand reached out, but it was not for _her_ that he reached for. In the next instant, he grabbed for the dark haired human female and glided back to the castle with her in his arms.

She fell into eternity.

Just before her world went black, she thought she heard a thunderous grief stricken cry as she once had a thousand years ago.


	5. Chapter 5

It had taken days for her wounds to heal from her fall, but it had not been among the worst she had experience in her immortality.

For days she spend time observing the clan from a distance, but mostly she wanted to know more about this dark haired female that seemed to intrigue Goliath. For at least three days she observed the human's movements, and had found nothing remarkable about her. She was just another pathetic human that lived in a mundane habited building and worked for weak and corrupt human law enforcement.

Whatever hold the human now had on Goliath, she just knew that she had to kill her.

Demona's previous plans had all failed, and she did not understand why. First she had nearly converted Brooklyn to her true views until he turned against her when she enthralled Goliath, which had been quite invigorating and satisfying. She had flirted and nearly easily seduced Brooklyn because he was still a hormonal adolescent, and after the clan had followed the enthralled Goliath her thoughts turned to what he would be remarkably capable of during sexual intercourse.

Her body had sung with the dark erotic fantasies she had, but now she will never truly experience.

Demona had then tried to poison the human female, Elisa, with an old spell from the pages that she had luckily torn from the Grimorum. She had been so sure that she was finally rid of the mate seducing slut until Demona discovered she was still somehow alive during a conflict with her revived cybernetic brother, Coldstone.

She was shocked and angered to no end that the human whore had survived without a scratch from her poison. On top of that were continuing frustrations of Goliath's arrogance and blinding stupidity. He had made statements that she had no clan and did not know its real meaning, and how a gargoyle's true nature and purpose was to protect.

"To lose that is to be corrupt. Empty. Lifeless."

An infinitesimal part of her wanted to listen, but her thoughts knew this to be just more of his naïve lies.

Again she had failed to kill off Goliath and his followers.

Tonight, however, will be different.

It had been amusingly predictable and mildly thrilling as she distracted and eluded Goliath and his human whore through the museum and then the park. Even more amusing was that neither of them really knew what Demona's plan truly was. She knew the detective had no real chance with her, but Goliath was still a formidable warrior, despite having been corrupted by the humans. She was mildly impressed at his still sharp capability of catching the stolen spear she had thrown at the Maza human and had meant to skewer her, which would have been a good consolation.

But now the fun was really about to start.

The magic spell had worked flawlessly, and now she had an infamous Fae to do her bidding. There was much potential in the trickster's magic, and there was much that she deeply desired. No longer being stone during the day would be good, but finally being rid of the human race was even better, though she was skeptical about his 'limits.'

"What is it that you _really_ want?" Puck mockingly asked as he bats his eyes. With a touch to Titania's mirror, an image of Goliath standing proud and mightily steadily came into view. For but a brief moment Demona's heart ached and fluttered at the same time, but quickly it became wrapped in cold ice.

"How quaint," Puck mused, "You're still carrying a torch. Well, if that's what you want I can make him love you again, piece of cake. Giving your _charming_ personality."

For but a small moment Demona was tempted, for it would be wonderful to be held by him again. But the moment was gone when that _human_ stepped into the mirror's image next to Goliath, snuggling against his impressive bicep.

"That's what I want!" she hissed, "At least rid me _that_ human, Elisa Maza."

Puck took a moment to interpret Demona's request, cast his spell, and soon in a brief bright flash of light the deed was done.

"The human, Elisa Maza, is no more," he said.

She knew Puck had to be exaggerating about his so-called limits, for if he could destroy one human then he could destroy an entire island full. It would at least be a start.

It angered Demona how the Fae twisted her requests; first turning the humans of Manhattan into gargoyles, a glorious gift that they did not deserve, and then turning the clan into humans. She would have twisted his head off had he not just suggested that it could be used to her advantage with Goliath in his current form.

Taking down the clan in their weakened forms would be simple enough with her own superior gargoyle skills, a laser canon, and Puck using his powers at her command. Goliath will be no match for her as a pathetic human.

"My strength has never depended on brute force, Demona," he said with naïve arrogant pride, "But on true friends."

A mysterious female gargoyle suddenly rammed her from the side before she could kill her former mate. Shock colored Demona's face as she more closely saw who it was, disgusted with herself for not seeing it sooner because of what Puck had done.

Rage and jealousy erupted from within Demona like a volcano as she looked at the detective as a stunning tan colored gargess.

"What does it take to destroy you!?" Demona snarled as she leaped at her rival.

The fight with them both was brief, the detective her near equal but Goliath was easily downed as she threw him in a high arch across the square and into a glass window and was knocked unconscious. Demona would have finished him there had the Maza whore not shot down an awning on top of her.

Angered rage burned and twisted at Demona's sides as everything came crashing down around her, for not only had Puck tricked her and toyed with her, but a single moment was forever burned into her memory. After a bargain was made with Puck and all of the humans were changed back into their proper forms, the detective was changed back. Goliath had reached out to her again, and for a long moment they smiled at each other.

Demona could see all too clearly what it meant, her jealousy and hatred of the Maza woman was taken to undiscovered new levels. Now more than ever that human seductress whore must be eliminated, along with the rest of her traitorous and murderous race.

However, despite that moment Demona soon after discovered that it was only the second worst thing to happen to her that night.


	6. Chapter 6

She knew this was a waste of time, but the end result will be worth it if her newest plan works.

Human bonding ceremonies are nothing more than overly hyped and wasted elaborate farces that always ended pathetically in nothing more than betrayal and separation. Humans never really appreciated the mates they took, a terrible habit she knew Goliath had somehow acquired.

Demona only attended Xanatos's little farce to the Pack female television leader because he still had uses as a temporary ally, as well as it was set to lure in Goliath for his piece.

Typical in his naivety, Goliath never really knew the real power of the broken talisman she once shared with him so long ago.

He attended as Xanatos's 'best man' and she as the 'maid of honor,' a term she found to be ironically amusing and contradicting.

Goliath made a pathetic attempt at romantic reminiscing, a gesture she only found to be demeaningly demented.

She leaves the ceremony as soon as the human couple was proclaimed mates by the blacked robed human judge, only to go brood outside where she was followed by Goliath.

"Long ago, we too exchanged vows," he gently said as he walked up to her, "I know you remember them."

Indeed she did, an inkling of her soul smiled and ached for the memories, but in her conscious mind they no longer mattered for they were only signs of sentimental weakness.

Goliath presented to Demona his half of the Phoenix Gate, to which she joined hers. At last the mystic talisman is whole once again and with set determination she will use its power.

Demona was at last able to elude her sentimentally foolish former mate through the Phoenix flames, soon coming face to face with her younger self as she intended. She remembered this encounter well, but what her younger self did not understand was all that the present Demona now knew, and she will make her 975 counterpart understand.

History must unfold as she saw in her image, for that was the potential of the Phoenix Gate. Prevent the massacre; destroy the human race; rule over the entire gargoyle world as its rightful queen as she once had so many centuries ago, but her younger self could not see this truth, only a weakened and injured Goliath. Demona's younger self needed to understand that he was not worth it; he is only a weak fool that cares more for the humans than he ever did for the clan. His attraction to the dark haired police human was proof of that.

But her younger counterpart refused it all, causing a brief scuffle that knocked out the present Demona. In the back of her mind, she remembered Goliath's words to her afterwards, now they were just empty words that she now knew truly meant nothing.

Demona then awoke to find herself back in the present, cradled in Goliath's arms. For a microsecond, she felt safe and happy, a moment that seemed as a perfect eternity, but it was quickly overcome by only disgust and anger.

She quickly pushed him away from herself and out of his brawny arms, calling him a sentimental fool.

Whatever Goliath had tried to accomplish in the past had failed. She had never forgotten his words to her younger self, but she now knew that they were nothing more than a distraction to keep her from accomplishing a true gargoyle's purpose; to avenge her fallen kin and destroy the greatest threat to her race.

"Obviously history is immutable," she stated with extreme disappointment.

"More's the pity," was all Goliath said to her before turning his back and gliding away, perhaps finally understanding that it had been long over between them, for Demona could never love such a pitiful weak and corrupted shell of a gargoyle.

Her plans for altering the past may have failed, but she was immortal and always had time to plan. For she had already set in motion another plan that she knew will be more than suitable, a spell that will indeed be poetic justice.

So far her plan had worked flawlessly, well enough that she reveled in the destruction of her hateful enemies. No doubt this was how they felt when they had destroyed members of her kind, and now the tables have turned, which she found quite satisfying indeed.

Demona had lost count of how many deaths she has accomplished so far in the last 36 hours; dozens, perhaps hundreds of humans were all dead by her hands now from all walks of life. It did not matter to her, for they were all the same.

Finally she has found the one she has been wanting to destroy all night, the one who she has hated more than the others on this vile island and has been a thorn in her side since the clan's awakening.

"I thought I had rid myself of you long ago, human," Demona spat as she walked up to Elisa, who appeared to be attacking Xanatos's major domo, with a raised mace, "Fortunately, that mistake is easily rectified."

Her eyes glowed in excitement as she prepared for the kill, only to suddenly be overpowered by the clan gargbeast. She mocked the beast, who was clearly determined to protect the clan's human friend, with a soothing voice as she instead took some satisfaction in shortening Xanatos's countdown for his 'cure' to her spell. In one fell swoop, the early explosion will not only keep her spell in effect, but also rid her of Goliath, his pathetic followers, Xanatos,

"And especially _her,_ " she said with a snarl.

The next thing she knew, a battle with an age old enemy had erupted, knocking her unconscious in the Atrium beneath the castle. Demona heard far off voices, somehow knowing that one of them was her own. She stared off into nothingness as she answered full of bitterness and old grief, questions of who was really responsible for all of her sorrow throughout the centuries.

They asked her for the code to the countdown, which she was reluctant to give, for her vengeance was all that truly matters.

"Your thirst for vengeance has only created more sorrow. End the cycle, Demona," she heard Goliath's deep voice plead to her from some unknown distance, "Give us the code."

"The access code is," she said quietly with reluctance, tears glazing her eyes, "Alone."

She soon steadily came out of her trance and her thoughts cleared as she saw Goliath staring at her with pitiful eyes, along with three unknown yet familiar little human girls in sailor suits.

She immediately knew what had happened; more attempts to trick her from her goal for revenge with their damned lies. Then she suddenly blacked out from a wave of a hand from one of the little girls and the single word of 'sleep.'


	7. Chapter 7

****Paris, 1996

Her mind slowly cleared from the darkness as though from some unknown dream. Demona woke to find herself in an odd looking skiff with a still unconscious Macbeth across from her. Not caring for where she may head for, she leaped from the skiff to the shore and to the nearest building to glide away.

She soon recognized the city as Paris, a place that held many memories for her, some wonderful but many soul shattering. For some strange reason she could not remember how or when she got here, but for now it will have to wait. Demona broke into an expensive boutique for proper clothing in her new human form, for dawn was soon and she needed to begin making new plans in Manhattan.

She had spent the day being incognito from the Parisian humans as she dinned in fine restaurants and investigated her situation. She spent much of the day pondering her situation as she wracked her brain for how she suddenly found herself in Paris instead of Manhattan when it was the last place she was certain she remembered clearly, and it galled her as she couldn't remember anything. A quick look at a Paris newspaper told her she'd even lost track of time, being not only somehow ending up on the other side of the world but she had somehow lost weeks of her memory and time. All she could do was hiss and growl as she seethed with angered frustration, full of absolute certainty those strange children, and in a strong sense that wretched traitorous Goliath, were responsible for her current situation.

Her plan for the humans to be 'Stone by Night' spell had been working perfectly, and most important and best of all it was all poetic justice and that fool Goliath could never see that.

She had been so close to beginning to finally having her revenge, not just for herself but all of Gargoyle kind. So close to stopping her former clan and that traitorous Xanatos from 'making the sky burn' to counter her spell, but then another bane of her very existence and worst one she had to share the gift of immortality with, Macbeth had interfered. He too was to blame for her current predicament.

As the day wore on, she tried to calm down and gather her thoughts as she finally decided this was all just a setback. In time, which she always had in abundance, she will find a way to have her revenge and find a way to bring her species from the brink of extinction.

Without Goliath, of course as he had proven long ago to be an unworthy mate entirely.

She had then snuck into the bell tower of Notre Dame Cathedral, a place that had held great meaning for her that was universally different from that of the humans, where she spent most of the afternoon sleeping as she waited for sunset.

As dusk finally came to change a red headed woman into a fearsome creature of the night once more, there was the sound of stone cracking and the deep thunderous roar of another creature just as fearsome. Demona searched for the source of the roar, recognizing the voice of it all too well. Outside the bell tower, where ridiculously mocked up statues meant to represent her proud race squatted and poured rainwater from their enlarged snouts, a large familiarly shaped figure stretched his wings and arms in greeting to the new night.

Demona soared out to meet her enemy in battle once more, enraged that he would dare invade _her_ sanctuary. A bird of prey shriek burst from her throat and her eyes shined hot red as she soared at her quarry. He noticed her at once, taking to the air to meet her in aerial battle. She tried to strike at him with her deadly talons, but he easily dodged her and over shot her as he glided back into the bell tower, all the time moving with accurate swiftness and as a silent shadow.

She quickly followed him back inside where she saw him standing smugly, silhouetted in the shadows of the larger bells.

"Well, now, it seems I have company," he mocked amusedly with his familiar rumbling voice, "Whose been sleeping in my bed?"

Demona growled at him in irritation, for now he has picked up another pathetic human habit; wisecracking, just like the adolescent Trio.

"I don't know how you got here, Goliath," she snarled as she spat out his name, "But I…"

He suddenly just laughed at her as though she had just told an amusing joke.

"I admit my resemblance is striking," he gloated, "But I'm nothing like that gargoyle pushover."

Demona's eyes lost their glow as the figure stepped out of the shadows of the large church bells, for a moment his dark coloring made her think that he was still part of the shadows until she saw the shine of high tech armor, eyes like red fire, and a mane of ivory white hair. Something stirred within her, something unfamiliar and yet comforting as she stared at the Goliath-like gargoyle.

"I am Thailog," he said with a slight gentlemanly bow, "And you must be Demona."

She stared at him with suspicion, her mouth slightly agape at him.

"How do you know me?" she asked, not letting her guard down.

"I have my ways," he said with a smirk, "I must say you are more stunning in person. Your beauty is only matched by your passion and fighting prowess. How my 'father' would ever choose another female over you must make him an idiot, because he doesn't see what he's missing."

Demona's face flushed slightly, but she was still suspicious of this Goliath doppelganger, yet her heart seemed to skip a beat or two and her stomach filled with butterflies by the way he seemed to charm her.

"Goliath has made it clear that _humans_ mean more to him than his own kind. He's a corrupted fool, blind to what they really are and why they must be eliminated. He's turned the last gargoyles on this earth against me and I've had to fend for myself for a very long time against humanity's destructiveness. I've tried to show them, but I alone know the truth and I have had to bare it alone. They've all forgotten what it means to be a true gargoyle."

Thailog gently placed a large hand on her shoulder, feelings rippled within her in ways she thought she would never feel again.

"Indeed, humans must be the most pathetic creatures on this planet, but they are very amusing in their stupidity if you know how to manipulate them."

She looked up at him with a small smile, knowing it was true.

They spent the rest of the night just talking, Demona a bit surprised with herself at how much she was becoming smitten with this clone, a mere genetic copy of her original mate. When she had still been allied with Xanatos, he had proposed one of his most ambitious projects to her; cloning the gargoyles should they prove too willful. Back then, she had been outraged, even disgusted with such an idea, but now that she saw the success of it in front of her; she now saw its real potential.

Thailog was everything she had once hoped to see in Goliath again and more. She was impressed with his intelligence when he told her of how he tricked Xanatos, Sevarius, and even Goliath. His wealth of 20 million dollars also showed promise, and she knew that they will make the perfect team.

It may take time, but Demona was sure that she will have a clan again, one that will suit her liking. Her centuries long exile of solitude may finally be coming to an end.

OOoooOO

This latest plan was coming together well, and what made it even more perfect was that she now had the perfect mate by her side in accomplishing it. The humans called Paris a city of romance and indeed for Demona love was in the air with two men, but her heart only truly belonged to one.

In the passing weeks she had won the love of Macbeth in her human guise, now named Dominique Destine. Part of her found it intriguing to explore this relationship, how things might have been centuries ago between them. But it was all just a ruse, a means to get close to her age old enemy for his wealth and add it to hers and Thailog's. Macbeth had been easily fooled, just like the rest of his brainless kind is.

Macbeth had finally asked 'Dominique' to marry him, and the wedding was tomorrow. Thailog had stepped out momentarily to take care of personal business in beginning their new company together, while she remained at the Cathedral reading the latest newspaper. The article she read was about another sighting of the 'monster of Notre Dame' that seemed to haunt the church, a photo of a bat winged silhouette gliding across the full moon as proof of the 'monster's' existence.

So typical of humans to call her noble kind 'monsters' when they were the race that always seemed so close to destroying themselves and everything in their path that was not to their views. If not for their rapid reproduction rates, Demona would have gladly left them to destroy themselves a long time ago. But she knew better and already had a plan that would soon truly eliminate them all that was centuries in the making. Once their new company has gotten off of the ground, everything else will soon follow; Gargoyles will be safe and she and her new mate will truly be happy and together forever.

A familiar whoosh of wind signaled her mate's return.

"In here, My Love," she called.

He landed with a soft thump, but when she looked up it was the last person she had expected and much less wanted to ever see again.

"Goliath!" she angrily spat.

Her former mate stated an assumption about her and Macbeth, but she did not listen, because he was still ever a fool. They battled again, this time a bit more determined to eliminate him if just to keep him and his human slut from ruining their plans. But Goliath got the drop on her, kicking the wind from her lungs and being knocked from the bell tower by the beast. Fortunately, Thailog was there to catch her.

He shot Goliath with a laser, and stated that this was no way to treat the gargoyle that he loved. It was extremely amusing to no end how shocked the lavender Gargoyle became when he saw his own former mate and his clone romantically involved.

"It was love at first flight," Demona purred with smug satisfaction as she cupped Thailog's chin.

" _Love_ , Demona?" Goliath remarked with doubt, "You no longer know the meaning of the word. Hate is what you live for now."

He was clearly a jealous fool, assuming she and _Macbeth_ were planning something as well as she was sure Goliath just could not stand the thought of her finding happiness after him but taking advantage of Thailog's supposed own naivety of the world and the humans.

Thailog just brushed off Goliath's statement, even then offering to share his sanctuary. But Goliath refused, certain that Demona would destroy him in his stone sleep in the day time.

"Jealous and paranoid," she mocked. Goliath's eyes narrowed and he then glided away.

Thailog gave a small laugh and she smiled at him.

"Forget about him, My Love," Thailog purred, "He knows nothing. As you said, he's just a paranoid and jealous fool. Don't let this little incident ruin our fun."

They spent the rest of the night in flirtatious jesting, about the great accomplishment of finally naming their new company Nightstone Unlimited and becoming legal business partners. The next step will take place tomorrow, and then they can begin on other more important goals.

For tonight, their flirtations soon lead to more passionate and physical fulfillments.

OOoooOO

Everything had gone so well until that blasted Macbeth had somehow escaped. Demona could have sworn that she had made sure that he was unarmed, but Macbeth had always been a clever and formidable foe for centuries.

She and Thailog split up to search for him quicker, having found him sooner than expected in his chateaux library. As in centuries past, the two old enemies once more battled it out to the proverbial death, using up more energy as they experienced each other's pain in the fight as was the price of their curse from the Weird Sisters.

At some unknown time, that infernal seductress, Elisa Maza, had shown up trying to stop their battle and claiming that her beloved Thailog wanted her and Macbeth to destroy each other.

Was there no end to that blasted human woman's lies?

Finally, when Demona was sure she had Macbeth where she had wanted him for centuries, the Maza woman told Demona to drop her weapon while the police woman held a lightening gun at the gargess. Demona called her bluff as she took a chance to attack her, but the next thing she knew electricity coursed painfully through her nervous system and she blacked out.

The blackness lasted for an eternity, far off familiar voices echoed within her mind, one saying, "Search for that love, Macbeth, she's out there. Just be sure that next time you get a good look at her at night."

The blackness finally began to clear, yet her mind still momentarily swam in fog and her whole body ached. From her blurred vision she could just make out a familiar lavender coloring, yet when it cleared who stood before her both greatly surprised and confused Demona.

This was impossible, a young unfamiliar lavender female gargoyle with long dark hair stood before her with a look of apprehension coloring her expression. Demona has always been sure that there were no more gargoyles in the world, save for her former clan in Manhattan and yet here was this unfamiliar young one.

"Who are you?" she asked with suspicious confusion, causing the young girl to step back from her in slight fear.

"Forget them, Night Angel," rumbled Thailog as he came through the window.

"The evening's a wash," he said as he reached out for her, "But we still have each other."

The unknown young female became momentarily forgotten as she eagerly and happily ran to the open arms of her beloved lifemate. Holding her close and tight, they glided off into the night in romantic bliss.

Demona knew that her human enemy had to be lying, just as all of her kind does. Her wonderful Thailog would never betray her, for he was there when she needed him. His coming for her after this fiasco was proof of that.

They soon returned to Notre Dame, spending the rest of the night in blissful ecstasy, his strong powerful arms cradling her in safety, shutting out the rest of the cruel and unforgiving world that seemed always against her. For a short while her problems were forgotten as she reveled in her mate's presence, yet one thought persisted in her mind even into the early pre-dawn hours;

Who is that mysterious young female gargoyle?


	8. Chapter 8

****Manhattan, several months later

It had taken months of planning, but it had worked well enough that her 'imprisonment' had not been without some benefit. The acquisition of her former clan's DNA may have been the goal, but the real prize had been finding out the truth about her supposed daughter, the mysterious young gargoyle she had seen in Paris.

Yet the source of learning of her relation to the young gargoyle was something of a mixed bag for her as she saw the twisted human scientist as representing the most deplorable and worst traits the human race is capable of, and ironically it made him useful to her centuries long plan that will finally soon bare fruition, among other uses her beloved lifemate proposed to her.

She and Thailog had soon hired Dr. Anton Sevarius away from Xanatos when their new American branch headquarters had been completed. Having been aware of the doctor's skills in genetics he was the perfect candidate to create their new clan, though the human still sickened Demona in many ways to no end more than other humans. Although he informed Demona of her relation to this Angela, she still had to find out the truth for herself, having strong skepticism of Sevarius's claim of encountering and studying her at Loch Ness some time ago.

It had seemed like fate that Angela was the first one to 'guard' her during her first night of imprisonment, and indeed the girl had admitted to being her daughter. Demona hated having to scare Angela when she first awoke, but her act had to be convincing.

Angela told her she had been living on Avalon, which may explain how it was possible she was still young and alive, yet it angered Demona that the humans had not only destroyed her clan but they dared to steal their children. Humans truly knew no dignity.

Angela naively insisted that those like Princess Katherine were part of the clan as she was. Clearly the girl had much to learn.

"Know this, young one," Demona said bitterly, "Humans have no place in any gargoyle clan, Goliath has lost sight of this simple truth."

The girl just looked at her sadly.

"If you really are my daughter," Demona said as she reach out to her daughter's shoulder, "We must always be there for each other, _that_ is what it means to belong to a clan."

Demona would have seen the skeptical look on Angela's face if it were not for the rude and mocking interruption of her 'cell mate,' Fang.

As the weeks past, Demona came to know that her daughter was not just naïve like her adulterous father, but also very stubborn yet intelligent. Demona tried to get her daughter to understand the evil and violent ways of humanity, yet Angela pointed out facts that contradicted hers and asked seemingly reasonable questions for which Demona did not have a complete answer. As their talks progressed, Demona slowly came to realized that this girl had become something truly special to her, and perhaps she may not be as naïve as she seems to be.

Yet she had to try bringing Angela over to her side, to make her see the real truth about hateful humanity. She did not want her daughter to be hurt.

Another night came for Goliath's turn at guarding her, the self righteous fool who had proclaimed himself her judge and jury.

"You chose your own fate, Demona, when you turned against your clan."

"Clan," she snided, "You don't know the meaning of the word, but I'll teach you."

She took great smug satisfaction in throwing his own twisted words back at him just before her beloved mate came bursting through the ceiling. Their reunion was brief but joyful, for she was sure that tonight was the beginning of a glorious future with her new clan.

The plan had worked perfectly; the clones had performed their programming flawlessly and the clan was soon captured. When Demona had first seen the clones she had to admit that she was mildly impressed; aside from the different colorings they could have easily been the original members of her old clan. It was only a pity that they did not clone Bronx, for every clan needed a loyal gargbeast. To truly distinguish this new clan from the original, Demona gave them names that are in a way opposite that of the Manhattan Clan with places from California. Because they had taken names associated with the most populous city on the East Coast of the United States, it seemed more than appropriate to give her new clan names of places of the most populous places on the West Coast, as well as how ridiculous the Manhattan Clan members' names truly were.

While the clones had done their duties of capturing the Manhattan clan and one of their mutate allies, she and Thailog were able to capture Goliath and Angela. This was what a clan truly was, brothers in arms that followed their leaders without question and with unwavering loyalty, and no weakness for protecting those beneath them.

A laugh was shared after her mate said mockingly, "Face it, Goliath, _my_ clan can beat _your_ clan any day of the week."

Indeed it can, yet it seemed truly incomplete without her daughter joining them.

It was time to eliminate these pitiful jokes of gargoyles, beginning with Goliath.

"Starting with _her_ ," Thailog suddenly said, interrupting her train of thought as he pointed his cannon right at Angela.

She jumped in front of her mate saying loudly, "No! She belongs to me!"

She hoped Thailog would understand, but instead he bluntly pointed out how she already knew about her relation with the young gargess and had failed at recruiting her, which greatly shocked and angered Angela.

"You _knew_ the whole time?!" she shouted accusingly.

"I had to make you understand," Demona tried to reason with her newly found daughter.

"I understand perfectly," she hissed, her hurt anger all too clear, "You are capable of anything. I _hate_ you!"

Demona looked away from her daughter in hurt shame. She knew all too well what it was like to be hated by so many others, both human and gargoyle, yet from her own daughter it hurt in such a way that it stung on a level she had not felt in centuries. Thailog said she was better off without Angela anyway, and maybe he was right.

Suddenly something rose within her, an instinct somehow alien and yet familiar as though a lost part of her very being had been suppressed and then returned; a need to protect.

Yes, she had to protect her daughter, the last true blood relation she had to a clan long since turned to dust.

"NO!" Demona shouted as she jumped onto Thailog's back, causing a brief struggle as she tried to overpower her physically larger mate, who then hit her with his elbow painfully into her stomach and making her land on her back.

"You disappoint me, my dear," he casually mocked as she stared up at him in disbelief, "Fortunately; I was prepared for such a development."

Thailog pointed his laser canon at her, but she did not care or worry. He could kill her a thousand times over and he would fail every time, for nothing and no one can kill her save for one.

Instead, where she expected him to shoot her Thailog called out, "Delilah."

Confused at this sudden turn of events, she saw a hidden door then opened to reveal a light brown female gargoyle with cloud white hair and wings, wearing light armor arm and leg guards, a blue leotard, and a familiar red bomber jacket.

"Yes, Master Thailog?" she said with an obedient tone with a shockingly familiar voice.

Thailog signaled for her to come and she ran to him eagerly as he said smugly, "Look familiar, my _ex_ -love?"

Demona stared at the female in open mouthed shock, for where there were clearly all of her own gargoyle characteristics, the female clone's face and voice was that of her worst female human enemy.

"I used your DNA and that of the human, Elisa Maza, to create…Delilah," Thailog mocked her as he gently touched his talon to the clone's dainty chin.

Demona's mind seemed to slow down time, immortal though she was, barely hearing the ebon clone's gloating about the new female being 'obedient and lovely.' Old painful memories suddenly bombarded her all at once as she watched the one she had believed to be her faithful lifemate suddenly ogling this female knockoff with the face of an enemy. The image became as clear as daylight, a new version of her two worst enemies longingly staring at each other while she looked in from the outside with burning jealousy and hatred. It was the night of the magic mirror all over again.

Thailog ordered his new little harlot to destroy the Manhattan Clan, as he tried to destroy her. Her battle and survival instincts kicked in as she dodged his laser fire and hit a hidden button as she shouted, "Goliath, safe our daughter!"

Yes, Angela had to be safe from that murderous and traitorous clone.

Battle again suddenly erupted around her, Thailog escaping through a large hole that had been blasted through the wall, but he will not escape her so easily. As she chased down her now traitorous former lover, several thoughts went through her subconscious that drove her ever onward; she now knew that the real Goliath would never have done something like this to her but was always ever faithful, yet something about her pushed him away; the human Elisa Maza had tried to warn her about the clone's real nature to her yet she did not listen, but now knew too late that she had been right, which angered her all the more; and to combine her form with a pathetic human's was the biggest insult delved to her yet.

Demona chased Thailog to the roller coaster where he was able to easily subdue her, holding her down with his large foot as he mocked to her, "It would seem that the _love_ has gone out of our relationship."

An inkling of thought passed through her in a microsecond that told her it may have never really been there in the first place on his side, that this whole time he just used her.

The next moment Goliath flew at his clone as a winged mountain, and although a small part of her appreciated it he had no right to deprive her of her vengeance. The twin gargoyles momentarily fought until Demona was able to grab Thailog and soar with him into the raging wildfire that had consumed the roller coaster, Goliath trying to warn her of it.

"I told you to save our daughter!" she just stubbornly shouted at him and then he was gone.

For once the stubborn fool might be listening to her.

The fire raged around them as though the human religious fires of Hell had ignited around them to come and claim their souls for its insatiable hunger, the two of them having become as though demons themselves doing battle for dominance of the sinful realm.

However, the inferno had become but a tiny fading ember compared the white hot anger and hatred that burned in Demona's chest as she fought against Thailog. Old griefs and pains of betrayal, sorrow, loneliness and centuries of witnessing terrible horrors drove her ever more, all of which she will all too gladly take out on this betrayer of her love.

Thailog's leg suddenly got snagged from a worn track board as he shouted at Demona, "Do you wish to perish?!"

A part of her answered yes, for she had lived without true happiness and contentment for far too long, her hatred and need for humanity's destruction being all that had sustained her, but she only answered as her eyes glowed with angered red hellfire,

"My vengeance is all that you've left me!"

The roller coaster finally succumbed to the fire, plummeting them down with it into the raging inferno and to a fiery doom. If Demona did not survive this fate before long, she was all too glad to take Thailog with her.

A terribly charred life form was all that soon emerged from the fire, a figure of burned naked blackened flesh and charred bits of hair dragging what once had been graceful wings made for the skies behind it. It was a scene that would have given real nightmares to even the most imaginative horror writers.

Demona collapsed from exhaustion, dragging her mangled and badly burned charred body to the closest source of soothing cold water.

I will take days for her wounds to heal, but at least she knew that she was rid that traitorous ebony bastard.

She had been a complete fool, allowing herself to be tricked like that by something that had only looked like her former lover. She now knew whose fault it all really was; that _thing_ had been created by humans, it had human amorality and corruption, and it had used her like humans always used each other for their own ends.

It was time for it all to end. The malignancy that is humanity has butchered this world and her kind for far too long, they always took away anything and anyone she has ever cared about whenever she thought she had found a since of happiness.

No more, not ever again.

The time was drawing ever close for her to finally unleash her perfect plan to finally destroy humans and save her race, but there was now a far more important reason to do it.

She will do it all for Angela, so she can be safe in this world.

Demona also made a promise to herself because of one other important lesson she has learned this night. Never again will she fall in love, for it was nothing but a distraction. Nothing but a tingling feeling that clouded reasonable judgment, a sentimental weakness that was too easily exploited and created nothing but more pain and anguish. Despite her horrible burns, her heart closed and became entrapped in a glacial ice and as hard as proverbial stone.

Never again.


	9. Chapter 9

How could it have gone so wrong? Everything was perfect and she was so close to finally ending the human terror. Two nights ago, she was impressed with how Goliath seemed to finally understand what humans really were when they became temporary allies to escape from the Hunters' airship. He was finally remembering how to think like a true gargoyle, claiming a need for vengeance for the attack upon their beloved Angela.

Then he suddenly had the gall to ruin her plans for Operation: Clean Slate at the last minute by destroying the precious Praying Gargoyle, the only magical talisman capable of protecting their kind from the effects of the plague she had created. He had the outrageous nerve to risk all of their lives, especially Angela's, just to save a worthless species that had only hatred in its nature.

How could Goliath not understand Demona had done it all for her? For the love of a daughter that had given her long and lonely life new meaning.

She could only scream her frustration and outrage, then toss the canister of her poison as a distraction to make her escape from the clan as she called Goliath's bluff of letting her destroy all life on the planet.

Demona was sure his weak sentimentality would not allow her canister to break, and part of her was thankful for it, for it meant that Angela would be safe another night.

She made a quick decision that night, for she needed to lay low for a short while least her identity as Dominique Destine has been compromised by her supposed 'assistant.'

But should Angela need her, she will return to Manhattan immediately.

Jealousy and loneliness had motivated Demona to do harm to the human, Elisa Maza, for she was being given a promise that had once been given to the blue warrioress centuries ago by a noble and proud gargoyle. Although aware of their feelings for each other, she knew it to be unnatural and abominable for there to be any kind of romance between a gargoyle and a human. More importantly, that whore did not deserve such a magnificent male like Goliath, morality corrupt though he be.

For a few days, Demona made the detective suffer from nightmares of hatred, just as she has suffered for centuries, with a dream enchantment. It was a satisfying consolation for a short while, until Angela came to her in anger for doing harm to a friend of hers. Demona again tried bluntly to make the child understand what humans really felt about their kind, yet Angela made it clear that what Demona needed to understand was that if she continued to allow her hatred to let her harm people Angela cared about and protected, she will *never* speak to her mother again for as long as she lives. Thus, her own daughter will look upon her as an enemy as so many others have who could have been otherwise.

Disturbing feelings of guilt and shame over took her as she quietly and alone wept silent tears, something she has not done for centuries. To lose the affection of her only daughter will be the worst thing to happen to her in centuries, and she did not want it to happen.

Part of her realized, yet she would not consciously admit to herself, was perhaps her daughter was right. Perhaps not all humans were evil and *she* is the one that must learn of this. Demona hardly acknowledged to herself that she always had a grudging respect for the human detective, not just how she did not look upon her kind with contempt like so many others, but as equals, but how she was also an example of another side of humanity that was rarer than a gargoyle seeing the sunlight.

If Demona was to have any chance of a real loving relationship with her daughter, then she will need to learn to listen to her.

****1999

Within a few years, a few wonderful changes had happened to Demona all because of Angela. They had tough times together but mother and daughter always made it through, even through each other's extreme stubbornness.

Despite dealings with extremist groups such as the Quarrymen, Phoenix Rising, and worst of all the Unseelie Court, because of Angela's love and patience, Demona had gradually given up on humanity's destruction and even coming to terms of forming new yet shaky friendships with the clan and its human allies. She had even made a real friend with a human named Andrea Calhoun, who reminded Demona is so many ways of her daughter with her open-mindedness and idealism.

She still intensely disliked the human race greatly, that may never change, but because of lessons taught to her by Angela, a grudging tolerance for some humans had replaced most her old and intense hatreds. In time the clan steadily reaccepted her, and she had watched it grow, which seemed to be a bit of a miracle. Brooklyn now had a mate and hatchlings, and had even claimed to have forgiven her for her transgression with Goliath several years before; her brother and sister from the Coldstone shell had been revived; and her daughter had taken Broadway as a mate, while Goliath proclaimed her an honorary elder at their daughter's commitment ceremony.

Not long afterwards, Angela told her that Goliath and Elisa were going to get married. For a while she turned to alcohol to sooth her growing emotional stress at the thought that she had again lost something special from her life, never again to have a chance at happiness with a lifemate as so many others in the clan were finding. The thought of even a gargoyle and human finding happiness together was something beyond what her mind could comprehend as grief and loneliness nearly consumed her. Yet she was pulled back by memories she thought long forgotten as she remembered a friendship with a human was possible, even for her.

One human had shown her kindness, the wise prophet known today as Nostradamus, and he had shown to be the exception to the rule of humanity long before the detective had. She had been a fool to push away such precious memories of him, and it met maybe the foolish Goliath had been right all along. At least partially.

But not being able to find happiness with another again was the least of her problems.

Now it seemed that she could lose it all.

Despite a warning from Brooklyn about giving in to her old hatreds, Thailog had returned and stolen Nightstone, Unlimited from her after she had worked so hard to make it into a strong and prosperous financial and research company. Her former clone lover's return was ruining everything for her, everything that she has tried to build in her rough life.

It seemed that her world indeed was coming crashing down around her, just as Brooklyn warned her, saying that she had nothing when she took the time to look at everything. Taking a bit of time to think about it, she came to the conclusion that the former Timedancer was only half right; Demona may not have much but what she does have will be worth fighting for.

She has Angela, and she had her company; she even had one human friend who is now willing to help her. She is even closer to having a clan again after so many centuries alone; and whether or not she believes it, she had Brooklyn's friendship and support.

To regain what she is close to losing, sacrifices are going to have to be made.

Already she has made a few steps in regaining what is rightfully hers, for it is far from over.

This latest fiasco has her a bit on edge. She had seen a strange young gargess that greatly resembled the detective in her gargoyle form, whom she had mistook for Angela in danger.

Aside from that, she had battled a mysterious yet handsome red gargoyle male that had her feeling things she was not sure she wanted to feel.

Who was that mysterious handsome stranger?

THE END


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